Tag Archives: fledglings

Post navigation

I hope this little one had a safe night. I saw him yesterday hopping around. He cannot fly yet. I waited for about thirty minutes and never saw a parent check on him. He was in front of a lot of bushes I have let go wild so animals can have some cover. I did not want to scare him too much for fear he would hide and miss getting fed by a parent, so I waited. After another thirty minutes, I tried to feed him, but could not get close enough. I always go back and forth on whether to intervene; I do not want to “kidnap” a little one if the parents are around. After two hours, he was losing his little voice and I was getting worried. I decided to go out and throw a few raisins around hoping a parent would come and notice him. I imagine he just strayed too far from the rest of the family. Sure enough, a parent came soaring in and stuffed him full of raisins. He then led him away to some trees at the back of the yard. Click on picture to enlarge.

Fledglings are everywhere right now, following their parents around, learning to find food. This cutie was sitting on top of the pole yelling at the top of her/his lungs. It goes something like this, “What do you mean I have to find food for myself? Hungry! Feed me!” Click on picture to enlarge.

It’s that time of year again. The fledglings are flying around and curious as toddlers. As long as I don’t make too many sudden movements or make any noise, they don’t seem to mind me taking pictures at all. Click on pictures to enlarge.

I came upon this lovely hawk this morning. At first, I just assumed she was a red-tailed hawk, but looking at the pictures, I’m was not so sure. I asked the Kansas birding list for help and several folks confirmed that she is a juvenile red-tailed hawk. Click to enlarge.